Detroit — The
United States is being inundated with potent marijuana from Canada,
and the problem would be exacerbated if Ottawa decriminalized the
drug, the U.S. drug czar said Friday.

While
marijuana possession would remain illegal under the proposed Canadian
legislation, those found with up to 15 grams would receive a citation
similar to a traffic ticket. Violators would be ticketed and ordered
to pay fines ranging from $100 to $400.

John
P. Walters, director of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control
Policy, said some Canadian drug traffickers have used selective
breeding to grow marijuana that has up to 30 per cent content of
THC, the psychoactive chemical found in marijuana. In comparison,
he said, much of the marijuana used in the 1970s had less than
one per cent content of THC.

High-potency
marijuana is more likely to cause addiction and health problems,
officials have said.

"The
kind of marijuana coming from Canada is essentially the crack of
marijuana," Mr. Walters said in a news conference at a Detroit
drug treatment centre. "It is dangerous. It is destructive."

He
added that a multibillion-dollar industry has emerged in Canada
to produce and distribute drugs to the United States.

"The
problem is the political leadership in Canada has been utterly
unable to come to grips with this," he said. "They're
talking about legalization while Rome burns."

Canada's
Solicitor-General Wayne Easter, the minister responsible for the
RCMP, has already played down such fears.

"We
do have the sovereign right to make our own laws. And there is
a recognition that the current laws are not working," Mr.
Easter said earlier this year.

Justice
Minister Martin Cauchon, who introduced the new legislation in
May, has said the only thing that will change is the way some offences
will be prosecuted.

"We
are not legalizing marijuana and have no plans to do so," Mr.
Cauchon said at the time.

One
of the Canadian government's main reasons for moving ahead with
the changes is that casual pot smokers will no longer face the
threat of jail and a small-time user won't automatically end up
with a criminal record.

However,
there would be no respite for growers or dealers. The maximum sentence
for grow operations would be 14 years in prison, up from the current
seven. The penalty for trafficking would remain a maximum life
sentence, although in practice the longest terms usually handed
out are about 20 years for major dealers.

Rulings
could put pot charges across country on hold

Halifax
Herald
Louise Elliott

Criminal
charges for possessing small amounts of pot could be put on hold
in provinces across the country following court rulings in Ontario
and P.E.I., says a prominent legal expert.

A
provincial court judge in P.E.I. ruled this month that an Ontario
court decision which prompted the adjournment of all simple possession
charges in Ontario should be binding in other provinces as well.
He was referring to the Parker case in Windsor, Ont. - now under
appeal - which saw charges thrown out against a 16-year-old boy
on the argument that the federal Controlled Drugs and Substances
Act no longer effectively prohibits possession under 30 grams.
It led the federal Justice Department to ask its Crown attorneys
to seek an adjournment or stay of all simple possession charges
in Ontario. Justice officials last week similarly stayed all pot
possession charges in P.E.I. as a result of the ruling there.

Alan
Young, a professor at Osgoode Hall law school in Toronto, said
judges in other provinces may also follow suit out of sheer frustration
with Ottawa's sluggishness in dealing with marijuana possession
laws. "Really, I think people are fed up and I would think that
pretty much across the country, with the exception of possibly
Alberta, most courts would be more than happy to start staying
marijuana prosecution."

Young
said many lawyers may not realize the charges in Ontario and P.E.I.
have been stayed pending the results of the Parker appeal, but
judges would not hesitate if lawyers point out the law is vulnerable. "If
raised, I can't imagine many courts wanting to proceed with these
minor cases knowing that they may be imposing criminal records
on people who effectively have done nothing criminal."

In
an interview, Justice Ralph Thompson of P.E.I. provincial court
said he'd received several requests for a copy of his ruling from
other provinces. Adding to the law's vulnerability is the fact
Justice Minister Martin Cauchon has promised to introduce new legislation
to decriminalize marijuana.

The
legislation, originally promised by the end of April, could now
take until the end of the session in late June, Cauchon said recently.
Three key cases now before the Supreme Court involving simple possession,
trafficking and a marijuana "club," also hang in the balance, and
have been put off until May 6. But Thompson said he didn't take
into account Cauchon's promised new law in making his decision. "Basically
what I determined was that it would be an abuse of process to permit
the charge to proceed here when charges weren't proceeding in Ontario," he
said. "Until such time as the law can be uniformly applied across
the country in such a way that 12 million people in Ontario are
not subject to prosecution, then that charge will not proceed here."

Young
argued the P.E.I. ruling should prompt the Justice Department to
stay possession charges countrywide. "Why they wouldn't give an
instruction like that across the country is puzzling considering
that we have national criminal law," he said. "My explanation is
that they never go out of their way to move this issue in a progressive
way. They do as little as possible and they wait until they're
pushed again." Cauchon has said he will continue to defend the
current law until it is changed.

Copyright:
2003 The Halifax Herald Limited

Liberals
Plan POT Law Reforms

The
Toronto Star
Tonda MacCharles

The
Chrétien government will bring in a new law in June to decriminalize
simple marijuana possession as part of a revamped National Drug
Strategy that will include more resources to combat drug trafficking,
the Star has learned.

The
move has met serious objections around the cabinet table among
senior government members who fear it will further chill Canada-U.S.
relations. Others worry about potential effects on public health.
Still, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien backs the bill, which
is expected to make possession of small amounts of marijuana a
mere ticketing offence that would not carry the stigma of a criminal
record, said a senior government source.

Chrétien
views the sporadic and inconsistent enforcement of the current
law against marijuana possession across the country as "a basic
injustice" which not only stigmatizes some Canadians, but also
breeds disrespect for the law, said the insider.

Now,
some young Canadians convicted of pot possession, particularly
in rural areas, are saddled with a criminal record and even serve
jail time, while others get away with only a warning from police
too busy to pursue minor pot offences. The plan is to devote more
resources to fighting drug traffickers and give new money to police
and courts for that purpose.

No
decision has been made on what amount of marijuana in a person's
possession would be considered "small" and for "personal use" under
the law; it could be as low as 10 grams ( about 10 marijuana cigarettes
) it could go as high as 20 grams. In the past, 30 grams has been
used as the dividing line between offences of simple possession
and those of drug trafficking. But the source said the government
recognizes much of the marijuana sold today is more potent than
in the past.

The
insider downplayed any possibility of a border backlash from the
United States, saying the bill will be a made-in-Canada initiative
to reflect this country's law enforcement priorities and concerns. "We're
a sovereign country and we make laws appropriate to Canadian circumstances," the
source said. "And the intention of the drug strategy is to dedicate
more resources to deal with the problem of trafficking, which does
speak to American concerns."

The
government believes a strong argument can be made that a ticketing
regime that imposes a penalty "would do more to discourage the
use of marijuana than the current law." John Walters, the White
House director of U.S. drug control policy, has repeatedly warned
Canada against liberalizing its drug laws, blaming much of the
high-strength marijuana on U.S. streets on Canadian pot growers
and smugglers. But the Canadian government has been emboldened
by justice department opinion polls showing the percentage of public
support for decriminalization "in the high 70s."

The
move is also supported by the Canadian Medical Association and
the Canadian Chiefs of Police, and by the recommendations of two
parliamentary committees last year. One, a special Commons committee,
called for the decriminalization of possession of small amounts
of marijuana. The other, a Senate committee, urged that possession
of small amounts of pot be legalized.

Chrétien,
the source said, has long supported decriminalization, but in the
nearly 30 years since the Le Dain commission urged liberalization
of marijuana laws, has watched politicians avoid acting because
of the "political heat" the issue generates. "Who better to tackle
this issue now than this Prime Minister?"

Another
government source said Justice Minister Martin Cauchon has faced
an uphill battle to persuade fellow cabinet ministers John Manley,
who is responsible for border concerns, Health Minister Anne McLellan,
and Solicitor-General Wayne Easter to support the initiative.

Sources
acknowledge there is a public health perspective to the debate
inside cabinet. "Marijuana is a harmful substance. ( There are
) the same concerns one has with tobacco; the impairment of driving
skills that's definitely a concern," a source said. "But ... we're
looking at taking steps that would in fact discourage the use in
a way where no discouragement occurs now, except in cases where
a penalty that is more severe than the harm is applied."

Copyright
1996-2003. Toronto Star

Good
news for claiming pot

Halifax
Herald (CN NS)
Amy Pugsley Fraser

Ontario
user says its possible to claim weed on income tax An Ontario medical
marijuana smoker has some good news for sick Nova Scotians who
want to claim their pot as a medical expense on their income tax
returns.

"It's
not a problem," Alison Myrden said in an interview Wednesday from
her Burlington home. "We've been doing this for the past few years." The
38-year old former corrections officer was one of the first Canadians
to successfully claim the cost of her marijuana as a legitimate
medication for her multiple sclerosis.

A
Nova Scotia woman told the Herald this week she won't file her
tax return this year because Canada Customs and Revenue agency
is denying her claim. However, filing returns should be a little
easier now for Jane Parker of Lunenburg County. The key, said Ms,
Myrden, is a doctors prescription - the same piece of paper that
opened the door to her own smoking permit from Health Canada. "It
has to be prescribed to us by a doctor, otherwise we wouldn't be
allowed to have the federal exemption," she said.

Like
800 other Canadians, Ms. Myrden's permit exempts her from prosecution
under Section 56 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. "(The
doctors) just write a note saying they prescribe cannabis as medicine," she
said. "Then they sign their name, we photocopy that and send it
in with our taxes." "Exemptees" or "medpot" smokers, also have
a few other document requirements, including submitting receipts
outlining their "purchases".

A
bit of creativity is allowed because most drug sellers aren't willing
to identify themselves. "The dealers obviously won't sign the receipts," Ms.
Myrden said with a laugh. "So we have to sign for the people we
are purchasing from."

Users
must also submit a copy if their federal exemption card and a note
saying the marijuana is an over-the-counter narcotic for medical
use only and prescribed by their doctor and Health Canada. "So
its a little bit complicated," she said. "But its worth it." Ms.
Myrden, who uses an accountant to do her taxes, has spent about
$14,000.00 annually for the past eight years on medical marijuana.

Her
permit is to smoke 12 grams a day is one of the highest in the
country. "I eat it, drink it, smoke it," she said. But she's without
the drug right now because she can't afford the $1200.00 a month. "And
I'm so desperate that my neurologist put me on the marijuana pill...which
doesn't help at all.

"I
take over 32 pills a day when I don't have medical marijuana," she
said adding her drugcocktail makes her sleepy and sick. Besides
MS, which she's had since her teens, Ms. Myrden suffers from severe
facial pain called tic douloureux, or trigeminal neuralgia. "It's
associated with four percent of people with MS. "My doctor told
me the other day that he can't do anything else for me, there'
nothing else out there." But medical marijuana helps - and one
strain in particular. "When I have this type of marijuana, within
10 minutes the pain in my face is gone for over two hours."

Ms.
Myrden is one of nine Canadians suing Ottawa for the right to use
the government's experimental marijuana crops being grown in Flin
Flon, Man. "They've been sitting on it for how many years now...and
its not fair that we're not allowed access to it."